MANILA, Philippines – How are you boosting media and information literacy (MIL) in your community?

For Rappler civic engagement volunteers in Mindanao, they led a series of webinars and multimedia campaigns that sought to engage more communities to use social media responsibly and better understand the role of media in society.

From a three-week long webinar series on MIL to editorial cartoons and infographics on topics like digital hygiene, these campaigns ran since late July. These were some of the ways that these volunteers passed on their knowledge to communities following a trainers’ training program named “Movers for Facts” organized by Rappler, in partnership with anti-disinformation initiative #FactsFirstPH and Deutsche Welle Akademie.

As part of this program, 15 Rappler civic engagement volunteers known as “Movers” based in Mindanao were taught various MIL concepts, with a focus on countering disinformation, through a four-day, in-person training from July 28 to August 1 in Cagayan de Oro City.

Since then, these Movers have banded together to establish “Movers for Facts Mindanao,” an advocacy initiative that aims to promote MIL through a series of webinars and multimedia campaigns. These were further amplified by their member-organizations, Rappler, and Deutsche Welle Akademie.

Kicking off this initiative was a Movers for Facts Mindanao online webinar series on media and information literacy that tackled the following three modules over the course of three weeks: media and information landscape, fact-checking, and digital well-being. These sessions included interactive sessions and talks, which aimed to help participants gain insights on how to spot false information, verify content, and promote digital well-being.

The webinar series reached about 232 individuals, and was attended by over 150 people from at least 10 provinces, including Agusan del Norte, Bukidnon, Cotabato, Davao del Sur, Lanao del Norte, Maguindanao del Sur, Misamis Occidental, Misamis Oriental, Sulu, Zamboanga del Norte, and Zamboanga del Sur.

The webinar series was led by Mindanao Movers Fatmah Hadji Ahmad, Kianna Therese B. Andrada, Ghandamra Mae Burungawan, Irene Narcisa Cañete, Nur-Saleha Dadayan, Shakira Farhana Derico, Amil Bahar Guro, Farhana Makol, Keziah Loucille Mallorca, Lovely Gil Malupa, and Justin John Nagac.

Mindanao Mover Justin John Nagac of MASS-SPECC Cooperative Development Center said the trainers’ training program helped him realize that more than the technicalities of fact-checking, it was important to emphasize how we could be more critical of the content we see online.

“One key takeaway from our Mover for Facts Mindanao sessions, as a trainer, is to emphasize to our training participants the value of critical thinking. Indeed, it is a value we must uphold, a discipline we can teach, and a skill we must practice to equip our communities against disinformation by being responsible users or consumers of information, especially online. With this key takeaway, I feel more confident and it is clear to me what is that thing to cultivate to my participants when I conduct MIL sessions [in our] community,” he said.

“One of my most valuable takeaways was gaining a deeper understanding of the pivotal role grassroots efforts play in fostering media literacy and critical thinking within our communities. Seeing these efforts come to life through active participation was both humbling and inspiring, reaffirming my belief that collaborative initiatives have the power to drive meaningful change. The session also contributed significantly to my personal and professional growth—it enhanced my confidence in leading projects, engaging with diverse individuals, and addressing pressing challenges such as the lack of digital literacy,” added Cañete, one of the Mindanao Movers involved in leading the webinar series.

Getting creative with MIL

Aside from the webinar series, Movers for Facts Mindanao also led several multimedia campaigns aimed to promote responsible media consumption, fact-checking, and digital hygiene.

Among these campaigns is “MVestigate,” a media and information literacy project led by Mindanao Varsitarian Associate Editor Abdul Hafiz Malawani in collaboration with Movers for Facts Mindanao, Rappler, and #FactsFirstPH.

The project aims to explore the media consumption habits of Mindanao State University (MSU)-Marawi students, and raise awareness about the importance of MIL in combatting disinformation.

To do this, the project featured a random survey about media consumption habits of at least 100 Mindanao State University-Marawi students. The survey showed MSU-Marawi students spend an average of 3 to 4 hours on social media per day, have high trust in media, and are still unfamiliar with MIL. 

As a way to boost awareness of MIL among the students, infographics providing tips to protect one’s online privacy, and sharing how to do a reverse image search to help with verifying information were released as part of MVestigate.

Mindanao Mover Jysel Ashley Ayop of Google Developer Student Clubs chapter of Xavier University – Ateneo de Cagayan also shared tips to help one spot false information through a series of infographics.

Taking a different route, Mindanao Mover Eucel Mae Cañete used her drawing skills to create editorial cartoons and digital artworks highlighting the importance of fact-checking and online safety.

Meanwhile, Mindanao Mover Ronald James Lemu of the Institute of Integrated Electrical Engineers of the Philippines Inc. Xavier University – Ateneo de Cagayan Student Chapter amplified not only the insights of electrical engineering students regarding their media consumption habits, but he also created infographics listing actionable steps that people can do to protect their Facebook accounts, among others.

Moving forward

Their work didn’t end there. Since the program started in late July, Movers for Facts Mindanao continued to promote efforts and campaigns led by Mindanao Movers through their Facebook page.

Among its recent engagements was a voter empowerment roadshow called “#AmbagNatin: Championing facts for an informed choice,” in Iligan City organized by Rappler, #FactsFirstPH, Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology (MSU-IIT), Institute for Peace and Development in Mindanao (IPDM), MSU-IIT Youth Chain of Peace (MYCOP), Kataas-taasang Sanggunian ng mga Mag-aaral (KASAMA), and Silahis MSU.

Mindanao Movers Irene Narcisa Cañete and Shakira Farhana Derico were among those who helped pull in their organizations to bring this roadshow in Iligan City with Rappler.

Starting out as an MIL project done as part of Movers for Facts trainers’ training program, MVestigate will also continue as the new investigative section of Mindanao Varsitarian.

“Different communities require different approaches. This is why we localized our content to better reflect our community, creating impactful and meaningful stories…. This vision became a reality through MVestigate, our first media and information literacy (MIL) project in collaboration with Rappler and #FactsFirstPH. It also materialized through our new investigative section, which sheds light on the most pressing campus issues and stories,” said Malawani.

Following the program, Malawani shared in an opinion piece to Rappler how he’s even more eager to use his learnings to empower more communities to be media literate.

“I am now more than ever ready to be a mover for facts. After the training, I am now equipped with the necessary skills and knowledge I need to go into the arena and join the battle for facts,” Malawani added.

Movers for Facts is the Philippine leg of DW Akademie’s series of interactive MIL workshops to train multipliers in Southeast Asia, including Indonesia and Malaysia. These workshops have a common theme: “Together against disinformation: Reliable facts and new ideas.” This project is financed by Germany’s Federal Foreign Office (Auswärtiges Amt). – Rappler.com 

Do you want to volunteer or partner with MovePH, the civic engagement arm of Rappler? Let us know by emailing move.ph@rappler.com.